the arrest of Women Protesters

(R2)(W1)(W2)(W5)(V1) Although there have been many protests in Saudi Arabia concerning women's rights, one protest stands out from the rest as it caused a domino effect of widespread and even larger protests throughout the country. The protest took place on 01/05/13 in the conservative city of Buraidah. A humble sized group of women (mothers, daughters, sisters and wives) held a demonstration outside the Board of Grievances building where they demanded the release of their detained family members; shouting that their family members had been in jail for far too long without having had the protection of lawyers or even a trial to convict them.

Since Saudi Arabia is an absolute monarchy where protests are forbidden, it didn't take much time for the police to arrive to the scene. Security forces formed a circle around the women and children and immediately arrested eighteen women and ten children and took them into custody. The arrests of these women and their children caused a major outrage throughout the country. No only did hundreds of people go to the streets to protest these women and children's arrests, but other people, in other cities, took to the street to protest other causes such as the release of political prisoners.

Citizens say early in the following day, seven of the women had been released, but that didn't change the growing anger over the incident. This is mainly because, in Saudi Arabia, jailing women is an extremely sensitive issue. A secret video showed a group of angry men marching through Buraidah at night holding up signs stating how the arrest of the women and children was a red line that should have never been crossed. These men chanted slogans announcing that they were not afraid of the country's interior minister ,Mohammed bin Nayef, and demanded that he release the women and children immediately.

The main reason this event is so degrading to women is because the law enforcement didn't care if the protest was peaceful or not, they wanted those women in jail because they considered the women to be disobedient against the strict role that women are supposed to play in the Saudi Arabian culture. That role is to be quiet and obedient at all times. These women stood up for what they believed in, and were knocked down and silenced immediately. This is how the Saudi Arabia women are treated on a daily basis in this culture.